Woman discovers she has 2 vaginas — what to know about the condition

Lisa Fogarty has written numerous articles for USA Today, The Stir, Opposing Views and other publications. She has covered everything from red carpet events to the discovery of toxic PCBs on school windows. She lives on Long Island, N.Y....

Popular blogger discovers an incredible, rare condition causing her back pain

Imagine you're suddenly told you can get pregnant twice — at the same time. One blogger is coming to terms with the fact that she was born with a rare condition that gave her a double uterus and two vaginas.

Cassandra Bankson is a popular 22-year-old blogger and YouTube star who has shared the ins and outs of her battle with severe acne and bullying on her channel DiamondsAndHeels14, which has more than one million subscribers. But her latest story is one that is far more unusual. After suffering from severe lower back pain, Bankson wisely got herself checked out.

No woman could be prepared for the news her doctors delivered after a routine scan. The young woman was told she had one kidney and not two. That in and of itself is a life-changing discovery.

But there was a lot more she needed to learn about her body. Bankson was diagnosed with an extremely rare condition called uterus didelphys, also known as a double uterus. She was born with two wombs, two cervices and — something that isn't even common in women who have this condition — two vaginas.

You're probably wondering how, where, why... how? So here's the deal: Her two wombs are slightly smaller than average, which allows for them both to take up equal space in her body. Women can sometimes produce more than one egg each month and, in Bankson's case, if that happens and she has sex at just the right time, she can actually become pregnant with two babies — one in each womb.

Doctors say two pregnancies would happen "once in a blue moon," and the risks involved are great. Miscarriage is common, and it's also more likely that a baby will be in breach position and require a C-section.

As for having two vaginas, depending on the woman, it can be a blessing or a curse. Sex can be more painful than usual or more pleasurable. Doctors say some women have a septum in the vagina, which would require they wear two tampons during their period. And when it comes time for their annual gynecological visits, two Pap smears are required to test both cervices.

Women born with this condition often don't realize they have two wombs until after puberty. Some never experience symptoms and only find out about their condition after an ultrasound. In Bankson's case, she says she had abnormal menstrual cycles in which she would sometimes bleed for 28 days straight, or she would have two periods in the same month.

Cassandra says her two vaginas can be treated if they need to be. She admits she is nervous about telling future boyfriends about her condition. Meanwhile, this young woman continues to bravely share her story with others on YouTube: